1. Strategy Stat: Decision Making Group
2. Topic/Question: Facilitating your own Strategic Planning Retreat: An inside look at how to develop a great 2011 strategic plan (on the cheap). Learn the tips and tricks of preparing, facilitating, and following up from your upcoming offsite.

• Assessing if you are ready to begin your 2011 planning and what to do if you are not
• Identify who needs to be “at the table” and part of the process
• Setting an effective agenda that results in the outcomes you are seeking
• Must-dos to move from flip charts to putting your plan into action
• How to facilitate and participate at the same time

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1. Ignoring the Elephant in the Room

Strategy is worthless if your house isn’t in order. The best-prepped strategic retreats will not go anywhere without people. And if any key staff member is upset or has an outstanding problem, your strategic planning meeting will likely be disrupted. Give your employee the opportunity to voice issues or concerns privately. Make sure you clarify your intent is to clear up any problems that may inhibit his or her full participation during strategy session.

2. Refusing to Use a Facilitator

If you were having a party for 100 of your closest friends, would you improve your efficiency by hiring a caterer, or would you cook for all of them? Why take on the extra stress? A strategic planning meeting is no different. Hire a facilitator and you can be fully engaged in the strategy and planning, and leave meeting process and structure to someone else. The return on your investment will be worth the time and money.

3. Inviting Everyone

The old cliché of “too many cooks spoil the broth” couldn’t be closer to the truth. While it is imperative that key employees have a voice in planning, not everyone has to literally be at the table. Groups between 10 to 15 people are the ideal size for strategic planning meetings. The key thing to remember is be inclusive, but don’t invite everyone to everything.

4. Forgetting to Explain the Process

A good facilitator will make sure to explain the strategic planning process and outcome of the meeting from the get-go. Use shared strategic planning language, understand the elements of a strategic plan, and be clear on the desired outcome for the meeting. By making sure that everyone starts on the same page, you eliminate any confusion that might derail your meeting.

5. Ending on a Low Note

The best way to get people jazzed about the plan is to have them visualize success. Do that by asking your team to draw a picture of what the company will look like if you achieve your strategic plan. Have them really explain it. How many employees? What is the office like? Who are your customers? What is the media saying? Etc. That way everyone leaves the planning session seeing a connection between the work of the day to a future state of success.

Strategy Check: How will you make your next strategic retreat a success?

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Finishing up this first week of February marks a time when most companies are just tying up their corporate retreats and strategic planning for the upcoming years.   These last few weeks on Twitter it seems as if everyone is coming or going from their organization’s retreat where they have mapped out their company’s strategic plan.  However, it is apparent that there is a gap between the retreat and the actual execution of the strategic plan.  So, what exactly can your organization do to keep their planning momentum going after their retreat?

Strategic Planning expert, Erica Olsen, tackled this issue in last month’s Strategy Huddle.

How Do We Lose Momentum?

• No progress
• Not relevant
• No WIIFM (what’s in it for me?)
• Canceling meetings
• Feels like busy work

How To Keep Your Momentum:

• Someone needs to own the process of strategic management in the organization
• Need specific tasks & deliverables
• Schedule you strategic update meeting right away (Making it from the retreat to the first update is where most people get lost)
• Energy & focus
• Need to motivate & inspire

Taking some of these thoughts/recommendations will help your organization execute your strategy and keep the planning momentum going after your retreat.

For more information on the latest Strategy Buzz and Other Resources, please visit us at our Resources Page.

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A fellow strategic planning consultant, Holly Green, wrote a great article that talks about not forgetting about the “how” by breaking down the process of getting from where we are to where we want to go into manageable steps. Below is the cliff notes version (Full Text).

Today to Six Months: Look at the gaps between your current reality and your future state. Determine what incremental steps you must take in operations, people (skills and capabilities), systems and process.

Six to Twelve Months: After you have succeeded in incremental changes, consider what new, substantial actions you need to take to reach your vision. Ideally your substantial actions are lined up to be implemented after your incremental changes have taken place and settled in. Again, consider the substantial actions in the areas of customer, operations, people and process.

Twelve to Eighteen Months and Beyond: Now you are ready to move into transformational change – maybe business model shifts or larger strategy adjustments that seemed impossible 12 months ago.

By thinking about your strategic plan in timed phases, it prevents you and your team from being totally overwhelmed. It also helps you put feet on the ideas from your retreat without thinking you have to perfectly action out the next 3+ years. Obviously the time phased items listed above are fluid and iterative. In my experience as a strategic planning consultant, no one organization will adapt the timed phases the same, but what they all do have in common, and I know you do too,  is the strong will to change happen. So, don’t forget about the “how”.

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So You’ve Had a Strategic Plan in Place for at Least a Year, Now What?

The meeting rhythm should begin with an annual strategic planning session of at least two days in length. Ideally, you should hold this retreat at an offsite location. Although this isn’t necessary, it does help shut out distractions.  During this session, the team reviews how well they’re executing their business strategies and achieving the targets they set. The review process goes as follows:

1. Start with a review of the mission, vision, and values.
Make sure that these statements are current and still relevant to your organization.

2. Assess the long-term business assumptions and conduct a traditional SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.
This step provides a current understanding of the marketplace and the true capabilities of your organization. More info on SWOT can be found in our archives.

3. Identify the long-term strategic objectives.
Quite often these stay the same for several years, with just a few modifications.  Your strategic objectives are the big mileposts on the way to your vision.

4. Set short-term goals and action items if possible.
Normally the team does not spend time in the details; instead, assign a goal to a team member who can then flesh out how it will get accomplished.

5. As the manager of the strategic plan, collect all of the work completed in this session and compile it into a final document.
Distribute copies of the compiled document, so everyone knows what they’re responsible for achieving.

I’ll post a recap of the facilitation here on the blog, but if you have any questions about the process please let us know!

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